Fly Racing News Release
The Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) series kicked off on Tuesday at its traditional Florida location in River Ranch. The rough and sandy conditions, plus warm weather, played a huge factor in the day’s racing that was well represented with FLY riders near the front of the pack in each of their respective class.
Reigning XC2 Pro Lites champion Steward Baylor continued his early season winning form by putting together an impressive ride that had many in attendance shaking their heads in astonishment as the 17-year old rode with the composure and maturity of a rider well beyond his age. A fall off the start left him far behind the early leaders forcing him to methodically pick off riders as he marched to front. Baylor battled fellow FLY riders Glenn Kearney and Jason Thomas, eventually making his way to first place in class. But that wasn’t the end of Baylor’s charge as he continued to lay on the speed (turning the fastest laps of the race for the last three laps) and climbed to third place overall—including the XC1 class racers! Even more impressive is that the XC1 class starts a full one minute ahead of the XC2 class! Kearney hung on to third, followed closely by Thomas in fourth and Jedediah Haines in sixth.
In XC1 competition, FLY team riders Chris Bach and Rory Mead recovered from bad starts by hooking up and working their way to the front. Eventually Mead, whom recently arrived from his home country of New Zealand, worked his way into overall lead at the midway point but dropped back to finish an impressive third place in XC1 Pro in his first race on the WMR/KTM team.
Chris Bach would also finish strong, in his first GNCC race back since injuring his knee in the middle of the 2011 season, crossing the line with a solid fifth place on the day.
Next up for the FLY offroad team, is round two of the GNCC series in Washington, Georgia this Sunday. With only four days in between rounds, fitness and recovery from Tuesday’s race will play a crucial role.
FLY Racing River Ranch GNCC Pro Rider Finishes
XC1 Pro
3rd – Rory Mead WMR/KTM
5th – Chris Bach Factory Beta Offroad
XC2 Pro Lites
1st – Steward Baylor Fly/RidePG/WP Racing USA/Leatt/KTM
3rd – Glenn Kearney F.A.R. Husqvarna
4th – Jason Thomas F.A.R. Husqvarna
6th – Jedediah Haines Obermeyer Yamaha/Raines Riding Univ/OffRoadViking.com
10th – Brad Bakken Obermeyer Yamaha/Raines Riding Univ/OffRoadViking.com
12th – Steven Squire WMR/KTM
15th – Lucas Statom Privateer
About FLY Racing
Established in 1996, FLY Racing began as a manufacturer of motorcycle handlebars and helmets. The brand has quickly developed into one of the fastest growing off road motorcycle riding apparel and hard part brands in the powersports industry. FLY Racing develops high quality products for the competitive and demanding North American market and is distributed in 40+ countries. FLY Racing products are distributed exclusively in the United States by WPS (Western Power Sports).
